If you're looking to pick up some authentic New Orleans souvenirs, as far as I'm concerned, your best shopping bet is the grocery store. The browsing experience is fabulous and exotic, and you'll get more for your money than you would at any given touristic shop, often for the same items.

Find a Grocery Store

Locals love to "make groceries" (New Orleans speak for "shop") at Rouse's, a chain that's based out of nearby Thibodaux.

There are several locations throughout the city, including one smack in the middle of the French Quarter (at the corner of Royal and St. Peter) and a slightly larger one in the Warehouse District at 701 Baronne St. Rouse's is fiercely local and has extensive selections of regional products, both packaged and fresh. 

Another good source of local products is, perhaps surprisingly, Whole Foods, which has locations on Magazine St. Uptown and on Broad St. in Mid-City. Because these are both larger stores, it can be hard to find the local products nestled among the national ones, but if you look, the selection is broad across every category.

Packaged Local Products Worth Trying

Spices - You'll find a huge variety of local spice mixes on the shelves. Tony Chachere's is a Louisiana staple, though some locals (including this one) prefer Slap Ya Mama or other similar brands. They generally include red and black pepper, salt, and garlic and/or onion powder, in a sort of holy ratio that's surprisingly hard to replicate from scratch.

You'll also find regionally grown or packaged cayenne pepper and dried and prepared mustard. And don't forget to pick up some filé, dried sassafras root powder, which some people deem essential in gumbo. You'll likely find a variety of crab boil spices and fish fry mixes in the spice aisle, as well as pre-made jarred roux, which most locals use but few admit to.

Hot Sauces - Go nuts here. You'll find a wider range of Tabasco products than you're likely to see in stores elsewhere, as well as a variety of other local hot sauces. Crystal (or the common alternative, Louisiana) is a tabletop must-have in most Cajun households, and rural Black Creole folks always have hot peppers in vinegar to shake on top of cooked greens. Cajun Power is a thick, garlic-flavored hot sauce that's good on just about everything, and the same company makes a Worcestershire sauce that is quite different from the standard but so very delicious.

Pickles - If you've never had spicy okra pickles (even if you think you don't like okra), now's your chance. Give 'em a shot. You'll find other interesting varieties of pickled things on the shelves, too, from pickled green beans to pickled quail's eggs. If you can find pickled mirlitons, get them. They're a local squash (called "chayote" by Spanish-speakers) that are just great pickled. And don't forget the olive salad! It's the hardest part of a muffuletta to replicate at home.

Beans and Rice - You'll want to pick up some Camellia Red Beans, because they're the only beans for proper red beans and rice (are they different from red beans where you come from? Well... yes. I don't know why; they just are. Don't argue.) and maybe some of their other fun varieties as well. In the rice aisle, you'll find several Louisiana-grown rice products. My favorite is the aromatic popcorn rice, a deeply fragrant white grain that smells like popcorn when it's cooking and tastes like an extra-rich basmati on the plate.

Snacks - Though they're increasingly available on the national market, Zapp's Chips come in a wider variety of flavors around here, and they're all good. Hot Nuts are a favorite spicy shell-on peanut. You'll likely find pralines on the grocery store shelves, too. They're all good. All of them.

Coffee and Soft Drinks - Pick up some of the local blends with chicory: Cafe du Monde, French Market, and Luzianne are popular. They're pretty cheap so it's worth trying a variety. Swamp Pop makes a line of Louisiana-themed sodas that are awfully tasty, if sweet drinks are your thing.

Produce - If you're able to take produce home, some tasty things to look for are satsuma oranges (like a clementine, but sweeter and easier to peel, just not quite as pretty), Creole tomatoes, and fat Ponchatoula strawberries. On rare occasions, you'll find Louisiana figs and muscadine grapes in the grocery store; don't count on it, but if they're there, snatch 'em up.

Meat and Fish - If you happen to be able to travel with meat and fish, check the freezer aisle and see what's available. Crawfish tails are always delicious, and Louisiana sausage can't be beat -- try it all: hot links, andouille, boudin, and anything else you find.. Tasso, a sort of dry, rich ham, travels quite well and is just about impossible to find elsewhere.

Liquor - Booze is fairly cheap in Louisiana, compared to other places, and you'll also find some specialties that are available here and nowhere else. It's also conveniently sold in the grocery store (as well as gas stations and pretty much everywhere you can buy milk). King cake-flavored vodka is made by a couple of national companies but only distributed here. There are also locally-produced rums available. Louisiana is home to a rapidly increasing number of good breweries; take home some Abita or Bayou Teche or any of the other local beers.